EARTH TREKS: CRYSTAL CITY| VLOG#1
I decided to vlog our trip to Earth Treks Crystal City. You may recognize some of the names from the video. We have Siffla, Rsarin, and ScroopyNoopers jioning me in this climbing trip. This is one of the largest climbing gyms in NA and it's an incredible place with more than enough to offer any grade climber. From beginner to some pretty advanced stuff. It has a state of the art training area, bouldering, rope climbing. But I can't begin to explain all of it so take a look at their website for more information. It's located in Arlington VA. I hope you all like this vlog format and if so and you would like to see more vlogs, then let me know in the comments! Be safe and enjoy!
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EarthTreks Crystal City:
America's Climber: Earth Treks Rockville: Matt & Julia
Matt and Julia talk about how they ended up together because of climbing.
Hood Rock Climbing
Woke up this morning and decided to go bouldering at the Earth Treks Climbing Center in Crystal City, VA. *Disclaimer, I AM NOT A ROCK CLIMBER! THIS IS NOT A VIDEO ON HOW TO BOULDER PROPERLY! LOL. I'm just trying it out and having a good time.
Confusing Volume Problem at Earth Treks Crystal City!
I love volumes and this one definitely took some figuring out! This is the first time I have really projected any boulders in a while, but I am glad I did because it was definitely worth the send, sketchy top-out and all.
Climbing to the top: a Rockumentary
A short documentary about the sport of rock climbing. Set at a rock climbing gym, Earth Treks, in Timmonium, Maryland
Rock Climbing @ Sugarloaf, Maryland (Panasonic GH5)
A day of climbing at Sugarloaf, MD (Middle Earth route). Sugarloaf Mountain is a small 1,200 monadnock outlier of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which rises from the rolling hills about 10 miles south of Frederick, MD.
Aaliyah rock climbing... That's my girl!!!(1)
@ the Maryland Renaissance Festival, Aaliyah climbed this rock wall.
Billy Goat Trail - Section A
The Billy Goat Trail is a popular hiking trail that follows a route between the C&O Canal towpath and the Potomac River within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Great Falls, Maryland.
The YMCA Triangle Club first laid out the Billy Goat Trail in 1919. It has three sections, named Section A, B, & C, connected together by a towpath that follows along the canal.
Section A is the northernmost and longest section of the trail at 1.7 miles. It is also the most popular.
Most of Section A is on Bear Island and covers rough and rocky terrain, including a steep climb along a cliff face next to the Potomac River's Mather Gorge. At other points in the trail, hikers are required to scramble over and around huge boulders.
Section A is the most technical, strenuous, and dangerous of the three sections. The area gets about 400 rescue calls every year and about three to four people die.
The rescue calls are usually from falls, heat exhaustion, animal encounters and cardiac events, but most of the calls and deaths every year are water related.
The Billy Goat Trail meets the Potomac River and several points along its path. The water appears calm but is notoriously deceptive. No swimming is allowed.
It takes most hikers about 2.5 hours to complete the Section A loop. Hikers who access Section A usually do it from the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center inside the park. There is $10 fee to enter the park.
Section B is 1.4 miles and considered a moderate hike. The southernmost Section C is 1.6 miles and considered an easy hike. Those sections are best accessed from Carderock, Maryland. Parking there is free, but fills up quickly.
All sections of the Billy Goat Trail are marked with light blue trail blazes on trees and boulders, but the sections do not connect directly with each other. They are connected to each other by the C&O Canal towpath. The end of Section C is about 2.75 miles southeast along the towpath from the starting point of Section A.
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and towpath extend along the Potomac River from Georgetown, Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland, a distance of 184.5 miles. The original plans had the canal and path extending from the Chesapeake Bay to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It operated from 1831 until 1924 its principal cargo was coal from the Allegheny Mountains to Washington, D.C.
Previously the area was used by George Washington’s Potowmack Company to improve the navigability of the Potomac River. His company built five skirting canals around the Great Falls on the Virginia side of the Potomac before it was incorporated by the Chesapeake and Ohio.
The canal, path and its structures slowly fell in to disrepair after the 1870s, when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad became a cheaper, more reliable alternative way to transport cargo. The area deteriorated even more after the major floods of 1924 and 1936.
Flooding is frequent in this watershed and can be caused by heavy rain, rapid snowmelt, and hurricanes. All water from Potomac and Shenandoah rivers passes over Great Falls before it enters the Chesapeake Bay.
The water narrows dramatically just below the Falls and creates a chokepoint that regularly floods the basin and surrounding area.
This flooding plays an important role in Great Falls’ ecosystem. Plants depend on floods to spread fertile sediment and transport seeds and without those waters, the unique cliff top ecosystems would not exist.
Plants such as sticky goldenrod and bluestem grass thrive in the harsh cliff top environment. These attract over 150 different species of birds as well as whitetail deer, fox, turtles, coyotes, bats, and snakes.
In 1961 the area was designated as a National Monument by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in order to preserve the neglected remains of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and many of its original structures. By 1971 it was named a National Historic Park.
Both the National Park Service and volunteer associations extensively restored the area and continue to maintain it today. Sections of the canal and path are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today the canal and its towpath along with the adjacent Potomac offers activities including running, hiking, biking, fishing, boating and kayaking, as well as rock climbing in certain locations. A small portion of the towpath near Harpers Ferry National Historical Park even doubles as a section of the Appalachian Trail.
For those wanting to experience the entire path, The National Park Service maintains a number of hiker/biker campsites, about every few miles. Each site has potable water, picnic tables, fire pits, and latrines.
Some text from Wikipedia and the National Park Service
Music by Andy G. Cohen and found at the Free Music Archive
Bouldering at Great Falls MD
Bouldering at great falls Maryland on the Double Slap.
Jeff Found Some Projects at Earth Treks Crystal City
Meet Jeff! You may have seen him working at Earth Treks Crystal City as well as climbing. I was really happy that he was down to be in one of my videos and hope that we can do another in the future.
CHECK OUT HIS CHANNEL- DC DRAGONS
How to climb rocks
Rockclimbing.com told us to try out this state park north of baltimore
If you want to know the name of the park just ask
White Rocks - Rock Climbing DC / MD / VA / WV area
White Rocks - Rock Climbing DC / MD / VA / WV area
Black Crack, Annapolis Rock
Just a short clip of Black Crack with no one on it yet, as we were setting it up.
2011 AVC Youth Rock Climbing / Raw footage
2011 AVC Youth Rock Climbing / Raw footage
A boulder problem at woodstock rock in woodstock, md
A surprisingly quality line at woodstock rock